The 6 April Youth Movement decided not to spend the night in Tahrir Square following the "Friday of One Demand" mass protest yesterday, but called for another demo next Friday.

Under the name of "The Guarding Friday," the 6 April Movement invited all political forces to return to Tahrir, the epicentre of the January 25 Revolution, to demand free parliamentary elections.

The group also wants to demand the expulsion of candidates from the now-defunct National Democratic Party (NDP), who are seeking to get back into the parliament.

The Administrative Court of Dakahliya governorate returned a verdict that could prevent anyone from the former ruling NDP from running in elections. The ruling, nonetheless, was later reversed and now the remnants of the former regime seemed poised to be involved in the ballot.

Yesterday, hundreds of thousands of protesters descended on Tahrir Square to call for an end to military rule in Egypt and a swift transfer of power to an elected president by April 2012.

By the end of the day, most of the political forces opted not to spend the night in Tahrir.

“We decided not to stage a sit-in and give the parliamentary elections a chance,” Said Mahmoud Afifi, a 6 April Movement spokesperson.

SCAF apology?

Meanwhile, Engy Ali, member of the political office of the 6 April Movement, demanded an apology from the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) for accusing the group of receiving foreign funds from countries that aim at causing disturbance in Egypt.

In its 69th communiqué, SCAF made the accusation, which questioned the group’s intentions.

A fact-finding committee that worked under the supervision of the minister of justice announced that the accusation was not true, following an investigation that lasted for several months.

“SCAF should apologise for circulating false rumours and deceiving public opinion,” Engy said.